Almanac

A statistical look at 1998's Inc. 500 companies and the CEOs who run them.

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Will entrepreneurs of the future look back at 1997 and sigh wistfully? This year's data on the Inc. 500 would certainly suggest so. The companies on this year's list had a banner year by any measure, generating, in total, more than $12 billion in sales--a staggering 33.3% increase over last year's Inc. 500 aggregate figures. This year's companies generated 18% more jobs (71,464 in total) than last year's group did. And a record 14 companies broke the $100-million sales barrier. Considering that all the businesses on this year's list endured the economic downturn of 1993--and 82 of them actually were foolhardy enough to start their companies during that year--achieving such rapid growth is especially significant. --Karen Dillon

Inc. 500 By Industry

Note: Numbers do not add up to 100% because of rounding.

Inc. 500 By Sector

The CEO

Top 10 Fastest Starts

Top 10 All Stars

Location
The geographic spread at a glance

What a difference a year makes. In 1997, the Virginia/Washington, D.C., area was a hotbed of Inc. 500 action: Virginia, with 33 companies, led all states east of the Mississippi, while Maryland belied its size with 23 companies. But this year the Beltway states combined had just 42 companies, fewer than the state of Texas had.

Replacing Virginia as the East Coast king was Massachusetts, which boasted 31 companies--up from 28 in 1997. By far the most impressive gainer was Kentucky: 11 Inc. 500 companies hailed from the bluegrass state, 7 more than last year.

Broadly speaking, 1998 was a boom year for the Northeast: in addition to the crowning of Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania each increased their totals to 20--the first time either state had cracked the 20-company barrier since 1994. Connecticut jumped from 3 to 7, while New York dropped by one to 24.

Out West, California reigned as usual. However, its showing of 83 companies represented a drop of 11. (Interesting to note is that San Jose, which last year boasted 7 companies on the list, had only one this year.) Utah, with 2 companies, posted its lowest total in the last six years; and Arizona and Washington both fell from 12 to 10.

Several states registered no Inc. 500 companies at all. North Dakota and Hawaii, in fact, continue to hold the distinction of not being the base of a single Inc. 500 company. Other states have suffered four- or five-year droughts: Arkansas and Montana qualify as the former, and Alaska and Wyoming the latter.

Congratulations are in order for West Virginia, home to Azimuth (#387), the state's first company to make the Inc. 500 in four years. --Ilan Mochari

Blockbuster States
Number of companies from California and Texas: 127
Combined 1997 revenues of companies in California and Texas: $4,532,631,000
Total 1997 operating budget for the state of Alaska: $3,810,417,000

Close To Home And Abroad
Number of companies with a city, state, or geographic location in their name: 25
Number of companies that did business in foreign countries in 1997: 189
Number of CEOs born in a foreign country: 72
Number of foreign-born CEOs whose companies are not in a computer-related industry: 22

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